^    -  %^  '  ••-. 


( 


WN(V 


CHARTER 


OF    THE 


CITY  OF  CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS 

Being  Chapter  364,  Acts  of  1891 

As  amended  by  Chapter  173,  Acts  of  1896,  Chapter  397,  Acts  of  1901,  Chapter 

357,  Acts  of  1902,  Chapter  491,  Acts  of  1907,  Chapter  565,  Acts  of  1907, 

Chapter  566,  Acts  of  1907,  Chapter  271,  Acts  of  1908,  Chapter  362, 

Acts  of  1908,  Chapter  395,  Acts  of  1909,  Chapter  81,  Acts  of  1912. 


ACCEPTANCES 


ance.) 


ance.) 


Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 
Chnptei- 
Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 
I 

Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 


364,  Acts  1891,  on  Decembei-  8.  1891,     Yes,  3714;  No,  1833 
173,  Acts  1896,  on  April  1,  1896. 
397.  Acts  1901,  on  May  16,  1901. 
357,  Acts  1902,  on  June  27,  1902. 
491,  Acts  1907,  on  December  10,  1907. 

565,  Acts  1907,  on  December  10,  1907. 

566,  Acts  1907,   on   December  10,  1907. 
271,  Acts  1908,  approved  on  March  25 


Yes,  4121;   No,  3266. 
Yes,  3785;  No.  3502. 

Yes,  3887;   No,  3162. 

1908.     (Did  not  require  accept- 


362,  Acts  1908,  approved  on  April  7,  1908.     (Did  not  require  acceptance.) 
395,  Acts  1909,  approved  on  May  14,  1909.     (Did  not  require  acceptance.) 
441,  Acts  1911,  approved  May  13,  1911.     (Did  not  require  acceptance.) 
81,  Acts  1912,  approved  on  February  9,  1912.     (Did  not  require  accept- 


Chapter  804,  Acts  1913,  on  November,  1913.     Yes,  7279;  No,  2443. 


Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows : 

Section  i.  The  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  Cambridge,  in  the 
county  of  Middlesex,  shall  continue  to  be  a  body  corporate  and 
politic  under  the  name  of  the  city  of  Cambridge,  and  as  such,  shall 
have,  exercise  and  enjoy  all  the  rights,  immunities,  powers  and  priv- 
ileges, and  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  duties  and  obligations  provided 
for  herein,  or  otherwise  pertaining  to  said  city  as  a  municipal  cor- 
poration. 

"^Section  2.  The  administration  of  the  fiscal,  prudential  and 
municipal  afifairs  of  said  city,  and  the  government  thereof,  shall  be 
vested  in  a  mayor  and  a  city  council,  which  shall  consist  of  a  board 
of  aldermen  consisting,  until  the  municipal  year  beginning  on  the 
first  ]\ronday  in  January,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety- 
three,  of  ten  members,  and  thereafter  of  eleven  members,  and  com- 
mon council  consisting  of  twenty  members.     Each  branch  shall  sit 


See  Section  4. 


separately,  except  when  required  to  meet  in  joint  convention  by  the 
provisions  of  this  charter  or  by  a  concurrent  vote.  The  quaUfied 
voters  of  the  whole  city  shall  elect  from  among  their  number  the 
mayor  and  aldermen.  In  the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  one,  after 
the  redivision  of  the  city  into  wards  according  to  section  three  of 
this  act,  the  city  council  shall  apportion  two  members  of  the  common 
council  to  each  ward,  and  the  qualified  voters  of  each  ward  shall 
elect  from  among  their  number  the  members  of  the  common  coun- 
cil to  which  it  shall  be  entitled  on  such  apportionment. 

Section  3.  In  the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  one  the  city  shall 
be  divided  into  eleven  wards,  the  boundaries  thereof  to  be  deter- 
mind  and  defined  by  the  city  council  so  as  to  include  in  each  ward, 
as  nearly  as  may  be,  the  same  number  of  male  voters,  but  without 
disturbing  the  boundaries  of  the  existing  representative  districts 
established  by  the  county  commissioners  of  the  county  of  Middle- 
sex. These  boundaries  so  determined  and  defined  shall  be  retained 
until  the  same  shall  be  changed  under  the  general  law  relating 
thereto.  The  apportionment  of  councilmen  for  the  year  nineteen 
hundred  and  one  shall  be  retained  until  October  in  the  year  nineteen 
hundred  and  five.  The  City  Council  shall  in  the  month  of  October, 
in  the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  five,  and  every  fifth  year  there- 
after, apportion  the  members  of  the  common  council  to  the  several 
wards  as  nearly  as  may  be  on  the  basis  of  male  voters. 

Section  4.  An  annual  election  for  the  choice  of  city  officers 
shall  be  holden  on  the  Tuesday  next  following  the  second  Monday 
in  March,  and  all  officers  who  are  chosen  by  the  qualified  voters 
shall  be  chosen  by  ballot;  and  such  officers,  except  the  assessors, 
and  the  members  of  the  school  committee,  shall  hold  their  respec- 
tive offices  for  the  succeeding  municipal  year,  to  wit,  beginning 
with  the  first  Monday  in  April  succeeding  the  annual  election  and 
continuing  till  the  first  Monday  in  April  of  the  year  following  and 
until  others  shall  be  chosen  and  qualified  to  act  in  their  stead.  The 
qualified  voters  of  the  city  shall,  at  each  annual  election,  choose  one 
of  their  number  to  be  assessor  for  the  term  of  three  years.  The 
school  committee  shall  consist  of  five  members,  to  be  elected  as 
follows: — for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  school  committee  the  city 
shall  be  divided  into  three  districts.  Wards  one,  two  and  three 
shall  constitute  the  first  district ;  wards  four,  five,  six  and  seven 
shall  constitute  the  second  district;  wards  eight,  nine,  ten  and  eleven 
shall  constitute  the  third  district.    The  qualified  voters  of  each  dis- 


CHARTER  ,3 

trict  shall  elect  from  among  their  number  one  member  of  the  school 
committee  to  serve  for  three  years;  and  the  qualified  voters  of  the 
whole  city  shall  elect  from  among  their  number  two  members  of 
the  school  committee,  each  to  serve  for  three  years.  At  the  munici- 
pal election  next  succeeding  the  adoption  of  this  act  one  member  of 
the  school  committee  at  large  and  a  member  from  the  first  district 
shall  be  chosen  for  three  years ;  one  member  at  large  and  a  member 
from  the  second  district  for  two  years;  and  a  member  from  the 
third  district  for  one  year;  and  upon  the  election  and  qualification 
of  these  members  the  terms  of  all  the  present  members  of  the  school 
committee  shall  cease  and  determine.  At  each  succeeding  regular 
election  the  voters  of  the  city  and  of  the  respective  districts  shall 
choose  from  among  their  number  in  place  of  those  members  of  the 
school  committee  whose  terms  are  about  to  expire  an  equal  number 
of  members  to  serve  for  three  years.  The  qualified  voters  of  the 
^ity  shall  at  any  such  election  fill  for  the  unexpired  term  all  vacan- 
cies then  existing  in  the  offices  of  assessor  and  school  committee. 
Nothing,  however,  in  this  act  shall  affect  the  tenure  of  office  of  any 
person  elected  to  the  office  of  school  committee  during  the  years 
nineteen  hundred  and  nineteen  hundred  and  one,  but  every  such 
person  and  his  respective  successor  or  successors  shall  hold  such 
office  during  the  remainder  of  such  unexpired  term. 

Section  5.  All  the  meetings  of  the  qualified  voters,  for  the 
purpose  of  voting  at  elections,  or  for  the  transaction  of  municipal 
affairs,  whether  in  city  or  in  ward  meetings,  shall  be  holden  in  pur- 
suance of  warrants  for  that  purpose,  which  shall  be  issued  by  the 
board  of  aldermen,  and  shall  be  in  such  form  and  served  and  re- 
turned in  such  manner  and  at  such  time  as  the  city  council  by  ordi- 
nance shall  direct.  The  board  of  aldermen  shall  issue  their  warrant 
for  a  general  meeting  of  the  qualified  voters,  for  any  constitutional 
or  legal  purpose,  whenever  requested  to  do  so,  in  writing,  by  thirty 
such  voters. 

Section  6.  If,  at  the  annual  election,  a  mayor  or  the  required 
number  of  members  of  the  city  council  shall  not  have  been  elected, 
or,  if  any  person  elected  shall  refuse  to  accept  the  office  to  which  he 
was  chosen,  the  board  of  aldermen  shall  make  a  record  of  the  fact, 
and  forthwith  issue  their  warrant  for  another  election;  and  the  same 
proceedings  shall  be  had  as  are  provided  by  law  for  the  original 
election ;  and  the  same  shall  be  repeated  from  time  to  time  until  a 
ma5^or  and  the  required  number  of  members  of  the  city  council 


CHARTER 


shall  have  been  chosen.  Whenever  a  vacancy  shall  occur  m  either 
office  by  death,  resignation,  or  otherwise,  the  board  of  aldermen^ 
may  and  if  such  vacancy  occur  prior  to  the  first  of  July  in  any  year» 
shall,  forthwith  issue  their  warrant  for  a  new  election.  The  re- 
moval of  a  person  holding  office  from  one  ward  to  another  shall  not 
create  a  vacancy  in  such  office;  nor  shall  a  change  of  ward  boun- 
daries create  a  vacancy  in  any  office. 

'''Section  7.  The  mayor,  aldermen  and  members  of  the  common 
council,  shall,  before  entering  upon  their  offices,  be  sworn  to  the 
faithful  performance  of  their  respective  duties;  and  for  that  pur- 
pose shall  meet  in  convention  on  the  first  Monday  in  January  in 
each  year  at  ten  of  the  clock  in  the  forenoon,  when  such  oath  may 
be  administered  to  the  mayor-elect  by  any  judge  of  any  court  of 
record  in  the  commonwealth,  or  by  any  justice  of  the  peace,  and  to 
the  aldermen  elect  and  common  councilmen  elect  by  the  mayor,  he 
being  first  sworn  as  aforesaid,  or  by  any  justice  of  the  peace.  A 
certificate  that  such  oath  has  been  taken  shall  be  entered  in  the 
journals  of  the  board  of  aldermen  and  of  the  common  council  by 
their  respective  clerks.  If  the  mayor  or  any  one  or  more  of  the 
aldermen  or  common  councilmen  shall  not  be  present  on  the  first 
Monday  in  January  to  take  the  oath  required  of  them,  the  same 
may  be  administered  to  the  mayor  or  aldermen  at  any  meeting  of 
the  board  of  aldermen,  and  to  the  common  councilmen  at  any  meet- 
ing of  the  common  council,  thereafter,  before  entering  upon  office. 
A  certificate  that  such  oath  has  been  taken  shall  be  entered  in  the 
journal  of  the  board  at  the  meeting  at  which  it  was  administered. 

Section  8.  The  executive  powers  of  said  city  shall  continue  to  be 
vested  in  the  mayor,  to  be  exercised  through  the  several  officers  and 
boards  of  the  city  in  their  respective  departments,  under  his  general 
supervision  and  control.  He  may  call  special  meetings  of  the  board  of 
aldermen  and  of  the  common  council,  or  either  of  them,  when  in  his 
opinion  the  interests  of  the  city  require  it,  by  causing  the  notification 
to  be  left  at  the  usual  dwelling  place  of  each  member  of  the  board  or 
boards  to  be  convened,  twenty-four  hours  at  least  before  the  time  set 
for  such  meeting.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  communicate  to  said 
boards  respectively  such  information,  and  recommend  such  measures^ 
as  the  interest  of  the  city  shall  in  his  judgment  require.  The  mayor 
shall  cause  the  laws,  ordinances,  orders  and  regulations  of  the  city  to 
be  executed  and  enforced.    He  shall  exercise  a  general  supervision  and 


*  See  Section  4. 


CHARTER 


control  over  the  official  acts  and  conduct  of  all  officers,  and  take  proper 
action  to  cause  every  violation  or  neglect  of  duty  to  be  punished.  It 
shall  be  his  duty  to  secure  an  honest,  efficient  and  economical  conduct 
of  the  whole  executive  and  administrative  business  of  the  city,  and  the 
harmonious  and  concerted  action  of  the  different  departments.  The 
mayor  may  at  any  time  summon  boards,  heads  of  departments,  or 
subordinate  officers  for  information,  consultation,  or  advice  upon  the 
affairs  of  the  city,  and  he  may  at  any  time,  with  or  without  notice, 
and  without  expense  to  the  city  unless  such  expense  has  been  author- 
ized by  the  city  council,  investigate  the  affairs  of  any  department  and 
the  official  acts  and  conduct  of  any  official  in  the  administrative  service 
of  the  city. 

Section  9.  All  officers  of  the  city  not  elected  by  the  qualified 
voters  shall  be  resident  citizens  of  the  city  of  Cambridge,  and  shall, 
except  as  herein  otherwise  provided,  be  apointed  by  the  mayor  sub- 
ject to  confirmation  by  the  board  of  aldermen,  and  for  such  terms  re- 
spectively as  are  or  may  be  fixed  by  law  or  ordinance,  or,  in  case  of 
an  appointment  to  fill  a  vacancy,  for  the  unexpired  term.  Subject  to 
confirmation,  as  aforesaid  the  mayor  shall  annually,  in  the  month  of 
February,  appoint  two  persons  from  each  ward,  one  from  each  of  the 
two  principal  political  parties,  to  be  assistant  assessors  for  the  term  of 
one  year,  beginning  with  the  first  day  of  March  of  that  year.  The  per- 
sons so  appointed  as  assistant  assessors  shall  perform  together  the 
work  of  assessing  poll  taxes  in  their  respective  wards.  No  appoint- 
ment m.ade  by  the  mayor  shall  be  acted  upon  by  the  board  of  aldermen 
until  the  expiration  of  one  week  after  such  appointment  is  transmitted 
to  said  board,  except  by  unanimous  consent  of  said  board. 

Section  10.  The  mayor  after  due  hearing,  may,  with  the  approval 
of  a  majority  of  the  board  of  aldermen,  remove  any  member  of  the 
board  of  overseers  of  the  poor  or  the  board  of  health,  and  assistant 
assessor,  any  member  of  the  police  force  or  fire  department,  and  any 
other  officer  of  the  city,  except  the  members  of  the  city  council  and 
school  committee,  and  their  clerks  and  attendants,  the  principal  asses- 
sors, the  city  clerk,  the  city  treasurer,  the  city  auditor,  the  city  messen- 
ger, clerk  of  committees,  and  city  solicitor,  for  the  cause  assigned  by 
him. 

Section  11.  Every  ordinance,  order,  resolution  or  vote  for  the 
passage  of  which  concurrence  of  the  board  of  aldermen  and  of  the 


*  See  Chapter  425,  Acts  1913. 


6  CHARTER 

common  council  may  be  necessary,  except  on  a  question  of  the  conven- 
tion of  the  two  branches,  or  of  any  investigation  of  any  officer  or 
department  of  the  city  government,  and  except  as  may  otherwise  be 
provided  herein,  and  every  order  of  either  branch  involving  expendi- 
ture of  money,  shall  be  presented  to  the  mayor.   If  he  approves  thereof 
he  shall  signify  his  approval  by  singing  the  same,  but  if  not  he  shall 
return  the  same  with  his  objections  in  writing  to  the  branch  in  which  it 
originated,  which  shall  enter  the  objections  of  the  mayor,  at  length, 
upon  its  records  and  shall  proceed  to  reconsider  such  ordinance,  order, 
resolution  or  vote,  and  if  after  such  reconsideration  two-thirds  of  said 
branch,  notwithstanding  the  objections,  vote  to  pass  the  same,  it  shall 
be  in  force  unless  it  originally  required  concurrent  action,  in  which  case 
it  shall,  together  with  the  objections,  be  sent  to  the  other  branch  of  the 
city  council,  where  it  shall  also  be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved  by 
two  thirds  of  such  other  branch,  it  shall  likev.-ise  be  in  force.     In  all 
such  cases  the  vote  shall  be  taken  by  yeas  and  nays.    If  such  ordinance, 
order,  resolution  or  vote  shall  not  be  returned  within  ten  days  after  it 
was  presented  to  the  mayor,  the  same  shall  be  in  force.    The  mayor's 
approval  shall  likewise  be  required  for,  and  he  shall  have  a  similar 
power  of  veto,  and  with  like  limitations,  over  any  order  or  vote  of 
appropriation  of  the  school  committee  and  any  order  or  vote  of  the 
board  of  aldermen  which  involves  the  exercise  of  any  of  the  powers 
conferred  by  law  upon  the  mayor  and  aldermen,  or  upon  the  board  of 
aldermen  as  a  separate  board,  and  such  order  or  vote  shall  be  reconsid- 
ered, and  may  be  passed  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  said  committee  or 
board,  notwithstanding  the  mayor's  objections,  as  hereinbefore  pro- 
vided. Nothing  herein  contained  shall  affect  the  powers  of  the  board  of 
alderm.en  in  relation  to  votes  cast  at  elections,  nor  shall  the  veto  power 
of  the  mayor  extend  to  elections.  He  may  except  from  his  approval  of 
any  ordinance,  order,  resolution  or  vote  of  the  city  council  or  either 
branch  thereof  or  of  the  school  committee,  when  such  ordinance,  order, 
resolution  or  vote  appropriates  or  requires  an  appropriation  of  money, 
any  part  involving  a  distinct  item  of  appropriation.     In  such  case,  in- 
stead of  returning  the  original  he  shall  transmit  a  copy  of  the  part  not 
approved,  which  part  shall  be  reconsidered  in  the  manner  and  with  the 
effect  above  provided.    But  no  request  for  information  from  any  board 
or  city  officer  shall  be  subject  to  veto  of  the  mayor. 

Section  12.  The  mayor  shall  have  sole  power  to  sign,  seal,  exe- 
cute and  deliver,  in  behalf  of  the  city,  deeds  and  leases  of  land  sold 
or  leased  by  the  city,  and  other  deeds,  agreements,  contracts,  leases, 


CHARTER  7 

indentures  and  assurances  on  behalf  of  the  city,  except  as  herein  other- 
wise provided. 

Section  13.  The  mayor  shall  cause  to  be  kept  a  record  of  all  his 
official  acts,  and  may,  without  confirmation  by  the  board  of  aldermen, 
appoint  a  clerk,  whose  compensation  shall  be  fixed  by  the  city  council. 
The  mayor  shall  receive  for  his  services  such  salary  as  the  city  council 
shall  determine,  payable  at  stated  periods,  and  shall  receive  no  other 
compensation;  but  such  salary  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished 
during  his  term  of  office. 

Section  14.  All  the  powers  now  vested  by  law  in  the  city  of 
Cambridge,  or  in  the  inhabitants  thereof  as  a  municipal  corporation, 
except  as  herein  otherwise  provided,  shall  be  vested  in  the  city  council, 
and  shall  be  exercised  by  a  concurrent  vote,  each  branch  having  a 
negative  on  the  other.  A  majority  of  each  branch  shall  constitute  a 
quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business.  No  member  of  either  branch 
shall  receive  any  compensation  for  his  services.  All  sittings  of  the  city 
council,  or  of  either  branch  thereof,  except  for  the  consideration  of 
candidates  for  election,  and  except  the  sittings  of  the  board  of  alder- 
men for  the  consideration  of  appointments  by  the  mayor,  shall  be 
public.  But  all  votes  on  elections  and  on  confirmations  shall  be  taken 
in  public. 

Section  15.  The  city  council  shall  have  power  to  make  ordinances 
and  to  fix  penalties  therein  as  provided  herein  and  by  general  law, 
which  shall  take  effect  from  the  time  therein  limited,  without  the  sanc- 
tion or  confirmation  of  any  court  or  justice  thereof.  All  city  ordinances 
shall  be  duly  published,  and  in  such  newspaper  or  newspapers  in  said 
city  as  the  city  council  shall  direct.  The  city  council  may  also  by  or- 
dinance regulate  the  loads  of  vehicles  using  the  streets  of  said  city,  and 
provide  for  the  appointment,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  sec- 
tion nine,  or  public  weighers,  measurers  and  surveyors,  surveyors  of 
mechanics'  work,  inspectors  of  junk  shops  and  junk  collectors,  inspec- 
tors of  pawnbrokers  and  of  dealers  in  second-hand  articles,  and  other 
needful  officers  and  define  their  powers  and  duties  and  fix  their  com- 
pensation. 

Section  16.  The  city  council  shall  have  exclusive  authority,  sub- 
ject to  the  veto  power  of  the  mayor,  to  lay  out,  alter,  discontinue  or 
fix  the  grade  of  any  highway,  street  or  town  way,  and  to  take  land 
therefor  and  for  the  construction  of  public  drains  and  common  sewers 
and  to  estimate  the  damage  which  any  person  shall  sustain  thereby,  but 
action  upon  said  matters  shall  be  first  taken  by  the  board  of  aldermen. 
Any  person  dissatisfied  with  the  decision  of  the  city   council    in   the 


g  CHARTER 

estimate  of  damages  may,  within  one  year  thereafter,  make  complaint 
and  appHcation  for  a  jury  to  the  superior  court  in  the  county  of  Mid- 
dlesex, upon  which  application  the  same  proceedings  shall  be  had  as 
are  or  may  be  provided  in  sections  one  hundred  and  five,  one  hundred 
and  six,  one  hundred  and  seven  and  one  hundred  and  eight  of  chapter 
forty-nine  of  the  Public  Statutes,  or  any  acts  in  amendment  thereof. 

vSection  17.  The  city  council  may  establish  a  fire  department  with 
such  offices,  apparatus  and  regulations  for  the  government  thereof  as 
shall  from  time  to  time  be  prescribed  by  ordinance  not  inconsistent 
with  this  act.  The  engineers  of  the  fire  department  shall  have  the 
powers  of  fire  wards  and  all  powers  conferred  by  section  four  of  chap- 
ter thirty-five  of  the  Public  Statutes,  in  like  manner  as  if  said  city  had 
accepted  said  section. 

Section  18.  The  city  council  shall  take  care  that  no  money  shall 
be  paid  out  from  the  city  treasury  unless  previously  granted  and  appro- 
priated, and  shall  secure  a  just  and  proper  accounting,  in  such  manner 
as  they  may  direct,  from  all  boards  and  officers  intrusted  with  the  re- 
ceipt, custody  or  disbursement  of  the  moneys  or  funds  of  the  city.  The 
city  council  shall  publish  once  in  every  year  at  least,  for  the  use  and 
information  of  the  inhabitants,  a  particular  account  of  the  receipts 
and  expenditures  of  the  city  and  a  schedule  of  the  property  and  debts 
of  the  city ;  the  mayor  and  all  officers  and  boards  of  the  city  shall  make 
for  such  purpose  such  reports  as  the  city  council  may  request. 

'''Section  19.  The  city  council  shall  annually  in  the  month  of 
February  by  concurrent  vote,  the  board  of  aldermen  acting  first,  elect 
by  a  ballot  a  city  clerk  **who  shall  be  sworn  to  the  faithful  discharge  of 
his  duties  and  shall  hold  his  office  for  one  year  from  the  first  day  of 
March  of  that  year,  and  until  another  shall  be  chosen  and  qualified,  but 
may  be  removed,  however,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  city  council.  The 
city  clerk  shall  be  ex-officio  clerk  of  the  board  of  aldermen.  He  shall 
keep  a  journal  of  the  votes  and  proceedings  of  the  aldermen,  and  also 
of  the  city  council  when  sitting  in  convention,  and  shall  perform  such 
other  duties  as  the  aldermen  and  the  city  council  may  describe.  He 
shall  also  perform  all  the  duties  and  exercise  all  the  powers  usually 
pertaining  to  said  office.  He  shall  deliver  up  to  his  successor  in  office, 
as  soon  as  chosen  and  qualified,  all  journals,  records,  record  books, 
papers,  documents  or  other  things  kept  or  held  by  him  in  his  capacity 
of  city  clerk.  The  city  council  shall  also  annually  in  the  month  of 
April,  by  concurrent*  vote,  the  board  of  aldermen  acting  first,  elect  by 


•*  See  Chapter  425,  Acts  1913. 


CHARTER  9 

a  ballot  a  city  messenger  and  clerk  of  committees,  each  of  whom  shall 
hold  office  for  one  year  from  the  first  day  of  May  of  that  year,  and 
until  another  is  chosen  in  his  place,  subject  to  removal  at  any  itme,  by 
the  city  council. 

^Section  20.  The  city  council  shall  also  annually  in  the  month  of 
February,  by  concurrent  vote,  the  board  of  aldermen  acting  first,  elect 
by  ballot  a  city  treasurer,  who  shall  be  the  collector  of  taxes,  and  a  city 
auditor,  each  of  w^hom  shall  be  sworn  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  his 
duties,  and  shall  hold  his  office  for  one  year  from  the  first  day  of 
March  of  that  year,  and  until  another  shall  be  chosen  and  qualified,  but 
may  be  removed,  however,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  city  council.  The 
treasurer  and  auditor  shall  deliver  up  to  their  respective  successors  in 
office  as  soon  as  chosen  or  qualified,  or  to  any  person  designated  by  the 
city  council,  on  their  ceasing  to  fill  each  office,  all  books,  funds,  papers, 
or  other  things  kept  or  held  by  them  as  such  officers.  In  the  year  nine- 
teen hundred  and  eight,  and  every  third  year  thereafter,  in  the  month 
of  April,  the  city  council,  by  concurrent  vote,  the  board  of  aldermen 
acting  first,  shall  elect  a  solicitor  for  the  city  of  Cambridge  who  shall 
be  a  resident  citizen  of  Cambridge  and  admitted  to  practise  in  the 
courts  of  the  commonwealth.  He  shall  hold  office  for  three  years  from 
the  first  day  of  May  of  that  year  and  until:  a  successor  is  chosen  in  his 
place,  and  shall  be  subject  to  removal  at  any  time  by  the  city  council 
after  a  hearing  for  cause  assigned  by  them. 

Section  21.  The  city  council  shall  annually  in  the  month  of 
March,  elect  one  person  to  be  a  member  of  the  board  of  overseers  of 
the  poor,  for  the  term  of  five  years  beginning  with  the  first  Monday  in 
May  of  that  year. 

Section  22.  The  city  treasurer  of  the  city  of  Cambridge,  may,  as 
collector  of  taxes,  appoint  such  deputy  collectors  of  taxes  as  he  may 
from  time  to  time  deem  expedient,  who  shall  give  bonds  with  sufficient 
securities  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duties,  in  such  sums  as  the 
board  of  aldermen  of  said  city  shall  from  time  to  time  prescribe,  and 
such  deputies  shall  have  the  same  powers  as  collectors  of  taxes  of 
towns.  He  shall  as  such  collector  have  all  special  powers  conferred  on 
a  treasurer  appointed  collector  by  a  vote  of  a  city  council. 

Section  23.  All  fees,  charges  and  commissions  of  every  kind  and 
description  allowed  by  law  for  the  collection  of  taxes,  betterments, 
rates  and  assessments  of  every  kind  to  any  person  or  persons  author- 
ized to  collect  the  same,  upon  any  warrant  or  other  command  hereafter 


*  See  Section  5,  Chapter  5G5,  Acts  of  1907,  post. 


lO  CHARTER 

directed  to  the  treasurer  and  collector  of  the  city  of  Cambridge,  in  his 
capacity  as  treasurer  or  as  collector,  or  as  both  treasurer  and  collector, 
shall  be  collected  and  paid  into  the  treasury  of  said  city  and  shall  be  the 
property  of  said  city.  The  city  may  pay  to  such  persons  such  com- 
pensation for  services  as  the  city  council  shall  from  time  to  time  de- 
termine. 

Section  24.  The  city  council  shall,  in  joint  convention,  fill  for  the 
remainder  of  the  municipal  year  all  vacancies  which  shall  at  any  time 
arise  in  the  board  of  assessors. 

Section  25.  Neither  the  city  council  nor  either  branch  thereof, 
nor  any  member  or  committee  thereof,  or  of  either  branch  thereof,  nor 
the  board  of  aldermen  acting  in  any  capacity  in  which  said  board  may 
act  separately  under  special  powers  conferred  upon  it,  nor  any  member 
of  committee  of  said  board  acting  in  any  such  capacity  shall  directly 
or  indirectly  take  part  in  the  employment  of  labor,  nor,  except  as  other- 
wise provided  in  this  act,  in  the  appointment  or  removal  of  any  officers 
or  subordinates  for  whose  appointment  and  removal  provision  is  herein 
made.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  for  election  or  appointment  to  any 
municipal  office  by  the  mayor  or  city  council,  or  either  branch  thereof, 
the  salary  of  which  office  is  payable  from  the  city  treasury,  during  the 
term  for  which  such  person  was  chosen  as  member  of  the  city  council. 

Section  26.  The  board  of  aldermen  shall  be  the  final  judge  of  the 
election  and  qualification  of  its  members  and  of  the  members  of  the 
school  committee.  The  board  of  aldermen  shall  choose  one  of  its  mem- 
bers as  president,  who  shall  preside  at  the  meetings  of  the  board  and  at 
joint  conventions  of  the  two  branches  of  the  city  council.  He  may  at 
any  time  call  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  of  aldermen  by  causing  a 
notice  to  be  left  at  the  usual  dwelling  place  of  each  member.  The 
mayor  shall  not  be  a  member  of,  nor  preside  at  any  of  the  meetings, 
Ttor  appoint  any  of  the  committees  of  the  board  of  aldermen. 

Section  27.  The  board  of  aldermen  may  authorize  the  construc- 
tion of  sidewalks  or  the  completion  of  any  partially  constructed  side- 
walk in  said  city.  Such  sidewalks  may  be  with  or  without  edgestones, 
and  covered  with  brick,  flat  stones  or  concrete;  and  the  expense  of 
such  edgestones  and  covering  materials  shall  be  assessed  on  the  abut- 
ting lands  in  just  proportions,  and  shall  constitute  a  lien  thereon  and 
be  collected  in  the  same  manner  as  taxes  on  real  estate.  Such  side- 
walks when  constructed  and  covered  with  brick,  flat  stones  or  concrete, 
as  aforesaid,  shall  afterwards  be  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  city. 

Section  28.  The  board  of  aldermen  shall  from  time  to  time  fix 
the  number  and  compensation  of  the  members  of  the  police  force,  and 


CHARTER  II 

establish  general  regulations  for  its  government.  They  shall  have 
power  to  grant  licenses  to  inn  holders,  victuallers  and  retailers,  and  to 
grant  other  licenses  for  which  provision  is  or  shall  be  made  by  general 
law  or  ordinance,  and  may  at  any  time  revoke  any  license  granted  by 
them.  They  shall  do  all  acts  and  perform  all  the  duties  which  the  se- 
lectmen of  towns  or  the  boards  of  aldermen  of  cities  are  by  law  re- 
quired to  do  and  perform,  unless  otherwise  provided  by  general  law 
or  in  this  act. 

Section  29.  The  common  council  shall  choose  one  of  its  members 
as  president,  who  shall  preside  at  its  meetings,  and  shall  choose  a  clerk, 
who  shall  be  sworn  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office, 
and  shall  hold  office  during  the  pleasure  of  the  council.  The  clerk  so 
chosen  and  qualified  shall  attend  the  common  council  when  in  session 
and  keep  a  journal  of  its  acts,  votes  and  proceedings,  and  perform  such 
other  service  in  such  office  as  the  council  may  require.  The  common 
council  shall  be  the  final  judge  of  the  election  and  qualifications  of  its 
members. 

Section  30.  The  city  council,  the  board  of  aldermen,  and  the  com- 
mon council  may  respectively  fill  for  the  unexpired  term  any  vacancy 
arising  by  reason  of  the  death,  resignation  or  removal  of  any  officer 
elected  by  them. 

Section  31.  The  school  committee  and  overseers  of  the  poor  shall 
respectively  perform  all  those  duties  which  the  school  committee  and 
overseers  of  the  poor  in  towns  are  required  by  law  to  perform.  The 
school  committee  shall  annually  appropriate  money  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  schools  and  school  buildings  and  for  the  salaries  of  all  teachers 
and  other  employees  including  janitors  of  school  buildings,  employed 
by  them:  provided,  hozvever,  that  the  words  "maintenance  of  school 
buildings"  shall  not  include  the  restoration  of  a  school  building  when 
damaged  or  destroyed  by  fire,  explosion  or  other  unavoidable  casualty. 
The  total  amount  thus  to  be  appropriated  for  the  aforesaid  purposes 
in  addition  to  the  money  which  miay  be  given  therefor,  the  income 
collected,  the  balance  of  appropriations  of  preceding  years,  and 
the  money  which  may  be  authorized  by  acts  of  the  general  court  passed 
prior  to  the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  thirteen  and  not  repealed,  shall 
not  exceed  the  following  sums  for  the  period  specified : — For  the  finan- 
cial year  ending  on  the  thirty-first  day  of  March,  nineteen  hundred 
and  fourteen,  five  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents ;  for  the  financial  year 
ending  on  the  thirty-first  day  of  March,  nineteen  hundred  and  fifteen, 
five  dollars  and  fifty  cents ;  for  the  financial  year  ending  on  the  thirty- 
first  dav  of  March,  nineteen  hundred  and    sixteen,   five    dollars    and 


12  CHARTER 

seventy-five  cents,  and  for  each  financial  year  thereafter  six  dollars  on 
each  one  thousand  dollars  of  taxable  property  of  the  city,  to  be  es- 
timated by  taking  the  average  amount  of  taxable  property  during  the 
three  preceding  years.  The  school  committee  shall  appoint  a  superin- 
tendent of  schools  and  shall  elect  the  teachers  of  the  public  schools  as 
provided  by  section  thirty-two  of  chapter  forty-two  of  the  Revised 
Laws.  It  shall  approve  the  situation"  and  plans  of  all  school  buildings. 
It  shall  have  entire  charge  of  the  buildings  used  for  school  purposes 
and  shall  have  authority  to  appoint  and  remove,  under  the  laws  regulat- 
ing the  civil  service,  the  janitors  and  other  persons  employed  therein. 
It  shall  have  entire  control  of  the  expenditure  of  moneys  devoted  to  the 
maintenance  of  schools.  The  overseers  of  the  poor  shall,  annually  on 
the  first  Monday  of  May,  meet  and  organize,  and  choose  such  subor- 
dinate officers  and  agents  as  they  may  deem  expedient,  and  define  their 
duties  and  fix  their  salaries;  but  no  miember  of  the  board  shall  be 
eligible  to  be  chosen  by  the  board  to  any  position  of  emolument. 

Section  32.  The  city  council,  the  board  of  aldermen,  the  common 
council,  and  the  school  committee  may  severally  employ  such  clerks 
and  attendants  as  they  may  deem  proper  for  the  suitable  conduct  of 
their  business,  and  may  remove  the  same  at  pleasure. 

Section  33.  Every  officer  of  the  city  shall,  unless  sooner  removed, 
continue  after  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service  to  hold  his  office 
until  his  successor  is  appointed  or  elected  and  duly  qualified. 

Section  34.  All  heads  of  departments  and  boards  of  the  city, 
except  the  chief  of  police  and  the  chief  engineer  of  the  fire  depart- 
ment, shall  appoint  their  respective  subordinates,  for  such  term  of  ser- 
vice respectively,  as  are  or  may  be  fixed  by  law  or  ordinance,  which 
appointments  shall  be  forthwith  certified  by  them  to  the  mayor;  the 
said  officers  and  boards  may  remove  such  subordinates  for  such  cause 
as  they  shall  assign  in  writing  in  the  order  for  removal,  which  order 
shall  be  forthwith  communicated  to  the  mayor. 

Section  35.  The  several  executive  boards  of  the  city  and  officers 
at  the  head  of  departments  shall  in  their  respective  departments  make 
and  execute  all  necessary  contracts  for  the  employment  of  labor,  the 
supply  of  materials,  and  the  construction,  alteration  and  repair  of  all 
public  works  and  buildings,  and  have  the  entire  care,  custody  and  man- 
agement of  all  public  works,  institutions  and  buildings  and  other  prop- 
erty, and  the  direction  and  control  of  all  the  executive  and  administra- 
tive business  of  said  city.  All  executive  boards  and  officers  shall  be  at 
all  times  accountable  for  the  proper  discharge  of  their  duties  to  the 
mayor  as  the  chief  executive  officer.    They  and  all  subordinate  officers 


CHARTER  .  13 

shall  at  all  times  furnish  such  information  as  to  matters  under  their 
control  as  the  mayor  or  the  city  council  may  request.  Every  contract 
made  in  behalf  of  the  city,  in  which  the  amount  involved  exceeds 
three  hundred  dollars,  shall  require  the  approval  of  the  mayor  before 
going  into  effect.  No  expenditures  shall  be  made,  and  no  liability  shall 
be  incurred  or  be  binding  upon  the  city  for  any  purpose  beyond  the 
appropriation  previously  made  therefor.  This  section  shall  in  no  wise 
be  construed  as  limiting  or  restricting  the  powers  given  to  the  school 
committee  by  the  Public  Statutes  or  any  amendments  thereto. 

Section  36.  The  heads  of  departments  and  all  other  officers  and 
boards  having  authority  to  expend  money,  shall,  annually,  before  the 
twentieth  day  of  April  furnish  an  estimate  to  the  mayor  of  the  money 
required  for  their  respective  departments  and  offices  for  one  year  be- 
ginning with  the  first  day  of  April  preceding,  and  the  mayor  shall  ex- 
amine such  estimates  and  submit  the  same  with  his  recommendations 
thereon  to  the  city  council  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  May.  The 
city  council  shall  thereupon  make  the  appropriation  for  the  financial 
year  beginning  with  the  first  day  of  April  preceding. 

Section  37.  All  ordinances  of  the  city  of  Cambridge,  or  portions 
thereof,  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  are  annulled,  but 
such  portions  as  are  not  inconsistent  herewith  are  continued  in  force 
until  amended  or  repealed  by  the  city  council. 

Section  38.  Nothing  contained  herein  shall  affect  the  provisions 
of  chapter  one  hundred  and  eight  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  eighty-six,  of  chapter  seventy  of  the  acts  of  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  of  chapter  four  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-nine,  or  the 
enforcement  of  the  provisions  of  chapter  three  hundred  and  twenty 
of  the  acts  of  year  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-four,  or  of  acts  in 
amendment  thereof,  or  of  the  rules  made  by  the  commissioners  ap- 
pointed thereunder,  and  none  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  except  those 
relating  to  the  power  of  removal,  shall  affect  the  tenure  of  office  of  any 
person  now  holding  any  office  or  position  in  the  city,  or  the  present 
powers  of  the  board  of  health  therein.  Except  as  herein  provided,  the 
Cambridge  water  board  and  the  commissioners  of  the  Cambridge  cem- 
etery shall  continue  to  have  and  exercise  all  powers  and  be  subject  to 
all  duties  now  conferred  or  imposed  upon  them  by  law  or  ordinance 
until  the  same  shall  be  modified  or  repealed. 

Section  39.  Chapter  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  of  the  acts  of 
the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-two,  chapter  eighty-seven  of  the 
acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-five,  chapter  one  hundred 


14  CHAPTER 

and  nine  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  himdred  and  forty-six,  chap- 
ter ninety-nine  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-one, 
chapter  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  fifty-three,  the  provisions  of  section  one  of  chapter  forty- 
four  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-five,  relating 
the  method  of  appointment  and  removal  of  cemetery  commissioners, 
and  of  section  three  of  said  chapter  relating  to  execution  of  deeds  by 
the  city  clerk,  chapter  one  hundred  and  twelve  of  the  acts  of  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-six,  chapter  seventy-five  of  the  acts  of  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-seven,  chapter  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  chapter 
one  hundred  and  ninety-one  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-three,  chapter  sixty-eight  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  sixty-seven,  chapter  three  hundred  and  thirty-six  of  the  acts 
of  the  3^ear  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-nine,  chapter  two  hundred  and 
twent3^-nine  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy,  chap- 
ters three  hundred  and  thirty-seven  and  three  hundred  and  forty-five 
of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-three,  chapter 
forty-one  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven, 
chapter  one  hundred  and  tvv^o  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy-eight,  chapter  one  hundred  and  ninety  of  the  acts  of  ttie 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-nine,  chapters  one  hundred  and 
three,  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  and  two  hundred  and  thirteen  of 
the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-six,  and  chapter  two 
hundred  and  sixty  of  the  acts  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety 
are  hereby  repealed  ;  but  such  repeal  shall  not  revive  any  act  heretofore 
repealed,  nor  shall  the  repeal  of  said  acts  or  annulling  of  ordinances 
inconsistent  herewith  afifect  any  act  done,  liability  incurred,  or  any 
right  accrued  or  established,  or  any  suit  or  prosecution,  civil  or  crim- 
inal, to  enforce  any  right  or  penalty,  or  punish  any  ofifence  under  the 
authority  of  said  acts  or  ordinances. 

Section  40.  This  act  shall  be  submitted  to  the  qualified  voters  of 
the  citv  of  Cambridge  for  acceptance  at  the  next  annual  municipal  elec- 
tion held  therein,  and  the  affirmative  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  voters 
present  and  voting  thereon  shall  be  required  for  its  acceptance. 

Section  41.  So  much  of  this  act  as  authorizes  the  submission  of 
the  question  of  its  acceptance  to  the  voters  of  said  city  shall  take  effect 
upon  its  passage :  but  it  shall  not  further  take  effect  unless  accepted  by 
the  voters  of  said  city  as  herein  provided. 


CHARtER  '"-"  '        '     '    '  15 

CHAPTER  565,  ACTS  of  1907 

Section  5.  In  the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  eight  and  every 
third  year  thereafter  in  the  month  of  May  the  city  council  shall  elect 
a  city  clerk ;  and  in  the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  nine  and  every  third 
year  thereafter  in  the  month  of  May  the  city  shall  elect  a  city  auditor ; 
and  each  of  these  officers  shall  be  elected  by  concurrent  vote,  the  board 
of  aldermen  acting  first,  and  shall  hold  office  for  three  years  from  the 
first  day  of  June  of  that  year  until  a  successor  is  chosen  in  his  place, 
and  provision  of  chapter  four  hundred  and  ninety-one  of  the  acts  of 
the  year  nineteen  hundred  and  seven  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 
The  city  treasurer,  *assistant  city  clerk,  city  messenger  and  clerk  of 
committees  shall  be  elected  during  the  month  of  May  by  the  city  coun- 
cil, by  concurrent  vote,  the  board  of  aldermen  acting  first,  and  each  of 
these  officers  shall  hold  office  for  one  year  from  the  first  day  of  June, 
and  until  a  successor  is  chosen  in  his  place.  The  qualifications  and 
duties  of  these  officers  respectively  shall  continue  to  be  as  already  pro- 
vided by  law. 

Section  6.  All  ordinances  of  the  city  of  Cambridge,  or  parts 
thereof,  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  are  annulled,  but 
such  parts  as  are  not  inconsistent  herewith  are  continued  in  force 
imtil  amended  or  repealed  by  the  city  council. 

CHAPTER  441,  ACTS  of  191 1 

AN  ACT  RELATIVE  TO  UNEXPENDED  BALANCES  OF  AP- 
PROPRIATIONS FOR  SCHOOL  PURPOSES  IN 
THE  CITY  OF  CAMBRIDGE. 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows : 

Section  i.  The  unexpended  balance  in  any  year  of  the  amount 
appropriated  by  law  for  school  purposes  in  the  city  of  Cambridge  may, 
by  written  request  of  the  school  committee  addressed  to  the  city  treas- 
urer, be  carried  to  the  credit  of  the  school  committee  for  use  in  subse- 
quent years  for  school  purposes,  and  this  shall  be  in  addition  to  the 
five  dollars  on  each  one  thousand  dollars  of  taxable  property  to  be 
appropriated  or  expended  by  the  school  committee  in  any  subsequent 
years. 

Section  2.     This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 
Approved  May  13,  191 1. 


*  See  Chapter  425,  Acts  1913. 


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